President Park Geun-hye’s first official visit to the U.S. is largely about politics, but economic issues will remain firmly on the table, as evidenced by the largest-ever business delegation accompanying her.
Above all, offering reassurance to the U.S. markets of the safety of Korea despite its rocky relations with the North is going to be the top priority for the delegates, industry watchers said.
“We’ve been getting a lot of questions and concerns from foreign companies, including those located in the U.S., about the fate of Korea and its geopolitical risks following the inter-Korean standoff,” said one Samsung executive.
Dispersing these fears will therefore be a significant challenge for the delegation, sources said.
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee (center) on Saturday leaves for the U.S. with his wife Hong Ra-hee, director of Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art and other aides. (Yonhap News)
The agenda is also filled with plenty of official business, as the two nations recently marked the first anniversary of their free trade agreement, meaning time will be set aside to congratulate each other and talk over areas that require more work.
The widening trade imbalance ― Korea’s imports from the U.S. dropped by more than 9 percent on-year after the Korea-U.S. FTA took effect, while exports increased 1.2 percent ― may be another issue up for discussion.
President Park embarked on the crucial trip to Korea’s largest ally on Sunday amid an escalating row with Pyongyang.
Her entourage, the largest group ever for a state visit of this nature, includes a total of 51 businesspeople including the heads of the nation’s key conglomerates and the chiefs of the top five organizations representing local businesses.
Another message Park is probably hoping to send is that despite her strong drive for pursuing economic democratization ― which has sent one conglomerate owner behind bars and many others fearing for their future ― her government is pro-business.
Given this intent, it was not a coincidence that Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee joined Park, making it his first such trip in almost a decade.
He set out on Saturday accompanied by his wife and daughters Lee Boo-jin who heads Hotel Shilla, and younger daughter Lee Seo-hyun, executive vice president of Cheil Industries.
To show that this administration has much room for small and mid-sized companies, the delegation also included CEOs of a number of creative and lucrative firms such as Ocon ― the animation production company that created Pororo ― and MetaBio, a biotechnology firm.
On Tuesday, the delegation is scheduled to take part in a commemorative dinner to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the alliance between the two nations, while a luncheon will be held the following day for businesspeople from both countries.
Separately on Wednesday, the Korean delegation will get some private time with Park to discuss key corporate and economic agendas.
By Kim Ji-hyun (
jemmie@heraldcorp.com)